Work-holder



Oct. 26, 1937. D. E. SMOOT 2,097,000

WORK HOLDER Filed April 1, 1936 Patented Oct. 26, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- WORK-HOLDER,

Daisy Ellen Smoot, Maitland, Fla.

Application April 1,

7 Claims.

' The present invention relates to improvements in work-holders to be used when sewing upon materials by hand, or when ripping seams and the like.

The primary object in view is to provide a simple, foldable or collapsible device suitably constructed to be readily attached to the leg and having means to engage the work at one point while one hand of the user strains or stretches the material and the other hand is employed to do the sewing or ripping. It is well known that heretofore the practice has been to attach the work to the clothing at the knee,'but for many obvious reasons this is objectionable and it is the purpose of this invention toovercome the disadvantages of such practice.

A further object in view is to provide a foot support upon which the foot may rest in an elevated position, together with a connection from said rest to the leg engaging member by means of which the strain upon said leg member due to the pulling or stretching of the material is counteracted.

A still further object is to provide a connection such as before referred to which may be extended or retracted to accommodate variations in the distance between the work-holder itself and the foot support, said connection being mounted for self-reeling upon the foot support.

Other and further objects andadvantages of the invention will be hereinafter set forth and the novel features thereof defined by the appended claims.

In the drawing- Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation, showing my invention in use;

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective of the work-holder device;

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective of the foot support used with said holder in operative position;

Fig. 4 is a view showing the holder and foot support collapsed;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view in end elevation, showing the spring actuated tape roll more clearly; and

Fig. 6 shows a slightly modified form of workholder.

Like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawing.

Referring to the drawing and specifically describing the invention, l designates a leg engaging band of spring material, open at one side so as to be sprung upon the leg in position slightly below the knee, as shown in Fig. 1 and 2 is a clamp support preferably of stiff wire, the ends 1936, Serial No. 72,215

thereof being pivotally connected to the leg band adjacent to its ends, as indicated at 3, so as to swing from a position in alignment with the band to an operative elevated position, as shown also in said figure. The wire is preferably twistedat the top to form a vertically extending shank 4 to which is swivelly secured the 'work .clamp or clasp 5, between the spring actuated jaws of which the work may be held at any desired point. This form of fastening means facilitates the engagement with or disengagement from the material quickly, such operation being necessary'a frequent number of times while sewing upon or ripping the materials.

By virtue of the position occupied by the loop support 2, as shown in Fig. 1, the strain upon the holder is more or less resisted by the pressure .of the loop against the front of the knee, but since this does not always apply and is somewhat objectionable, particularly when an unusual amount of pressure or strain is necessarily exerted upon the material, I prefer to provide a cooperating connection between this holder device and a foot support, later to be described, in the form of a spring-actuated tape 6. A loop I at the free end of this tape is engageable over a hook 8 connected to the front of the band I. The other end of the tape is reeled upon a spring actuated shaft 9 in a casing I0 secured to a pivot pin of a collapsible stool or rest II. This support is preferably composed of two rectangular wire frames, I I and I I? which are pivoted together at mid-points so as to assume an X-form when in open position, as shown clearly in Fig. 3.

This position of the frame members of the stool is maintained preferably by a foot plate l2, which is pivotally secured at I3 to one of the cross bars of the frame member II, said plate being bent into an angular extremity I4 forming a heel rest. This rest hooks over the upper cross bar of frame member II" and thereby holds the two frame members from collapsing.

When it is desired to collapse the foot stool, it is only necessary to raise the rest I2 and disengage the member, whereupon the frame members will close together as shown in Fig. 4. At the same time the tape will automatically reel itself in and draw the band I toward the stool, allowing the holder to be assembled with the stool, as shown in said figure.

It will be understood, of course, that the stool need not be collapsed when not in use, in which case the holder is simply disposed upon the casing I0 where it will be held by the tension on the tape until it is desired for use.

In Fig. 6, I have shown a slightly modified form of work-holder in which the band la is provided with lateral slots IS. The ends of the loop 2 are slidably and pivotally mounted in these slots and this permits of the adjustment of the loop and takes care of different conditions or adjustments of the clasp 5 with relation to the leg.

The use of the invention will be clear from the foregoing, it being necessary here only to note that the stool accommodates the necessary elevation of the leg, usually requiring crossing of the legs, and at the same time this stool through the detachable tape connection with the band, resists the strain placed upon the work holder while in use.

It is obvious that changes may be made in the details of construction of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof and within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A work-holder of the class described, comprising a self-supporting leg engaging member adapted to engage the leg below the knee, a clamp support connected to said member to freely swing upwardly and. downwardly and adapted to engage the face of said knee to limit its upward movement, and work engaging means carried by said support.

2. A work-holder of the class described, comprising a spring band, a clasp support consisting of a loop member the ends of which are pivotally connected to said band, and a swivel clasp carried by said support.

3. The combination with a work-holder, comprising a leg engaging member and work holding means connected thereto, of a foot support for holding the leg to which the holder is attached elevated, and a spring actuated tape carried by said support and adapted to be connected to the holder to take strain applied thereto by the work.

4. The combination with a work-holder, comprising a leg engaging member and work holding means connected thereto, of a. collapsible foot support for holding the leg to which the holder is attached elevated, and a tape holder mounted on said support consisting of a spring actuated tape adapted to be connected to the holder to oppose the strain applied thereto by the work.

5. The combination with a work-holder, 'comprising a leg engaging member and work holding means connected thereto, of a collapsible foot support for holding the leg to which the holder is attached elevated, comprising a foot rest for holding the support in extended position, and a self-winding tape member mounted on said support and connected with said holder.

6. The combination with a work-holder comprising a leg-engaging support adapted to engage about the knee portion of the leg and to be self-sustaining when in such position, a workengaging member connected to the support at oneside and a strain-taking device at the other side comprising a foot-receiving member, and a flexible member connected to the support and the foot-receiving member.

7. The combination with a work holder, com prising a leg-encircling member and a clasp device assembly connected thereto, of a strain-taking device adapted to rest upon the floor and including a flexible connecting member attached to the holder to oppose strain placed upon the holder by the work, Winding means to which the connecting member is attached, and a spring cooperating With said winding means to maintain tension on the connecting member.

DAISY ELLEN SMOOT. 

